Thursday, April 24, 2008

Spike Lee Thinks Small

Nokia has signed up Spike Lee to make a short film for cell phones, relying on some user-contributed content, according to the NY Times. The user content will have been shot using cell phones.

Laura Holson writes:

By hiring Mr. Lee for the project, Nokia is seeking to combine the populist appeal of user-generated content with the power of a famous director’s pedigree. The film will have three acts, each three to five minutes long, with the theme loosely based on the concept of humanity.

“I’m interested because it’s a great collaborative effort,” Mr. Lee said. “Within five years, new movies will be made with devices like these.”

He added: “I like working with people who have talent but aren’t in film school.”

The project is an experiment for Mr. Lee, but it is also a way for Nokia to promote its wares. Cellphone companies are all trying to position their products not just as devices for talking, but as multimedia devices that can play music, search the Web and capture video.

Lee says that he himself is "a dinosaur," and that his kids help him turn on the TV at home.

4 Comments:

This should be interesting to track. Now if only Nokia can get their act together on the nokiaproductions website: fix Spike Lee's blog entry so his whole post can be read, and delete the spam/test comments.

Who are these people who watch content on their cellphones? The itty bitty screen with low refresh rates.

Has the world around us become so ugly that people in transit would rather stare at their tiny phone screens than watch the vast drama of life around themselves?

Me? My viewing times are at the end of the day. No movement. No more interruptions. I like to kick back with a beer or a bowl of ice cream and power up 40" of screen. Sometimes, for news (Daily Show), I use my laptop.

Maybe I'm a dinosaur as well or maybe the world is being taken over by Munchkins who prefer handheld movies?

I'm not that interested in watching a movie on my phone, especially if it's of any length, but I will say that having that option came in handy when I met a potential distributor at a film fest and was able to show him a sample of my work on the spot.

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CinemaTech focuses on how new technologies are changing cinema - the way movies get made, discovered, marketed, distributed, shown, and seen. (With occasional forays into other parts of the entertainment economy.) You can also follow CinemaTech on Twitter (@ctechblog).

About Me

For about the last ten years, I've been writing about innovation for publications like the Boston Globe, the New York Times, Wired, Variety, Fast Company, the Hollywood Reporter, Salon.com, BusinessWeek, and Newsweek.
I helped start (and continue to help run) three conferences: Future Forward, the Nantucket Conference on Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Convergence: The Life Sciences Leaders Forum. I also often speak and moderate at other people's conferences, and serve as a commentator on TV and radio. (Which beats actual work.)
You can reach me by e-mailing kirsner - at- pobox.com. My personal site is www.scottkirsner.com.